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Nahanni

The South Nahanni River, in the North West Territories, Canada, is part of the Nahanni National Park. Generally accessed by air from Fort Simpson. These pictures are from a week long rafting trip starting at Virginia Falls.
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Nahanni National Park
Nahanni National Park		 Map
Map		 Outfitter's Office, Fort Simpson
Outfitter's Office, Fort Simpson		 Loading Twin Otter
Loading Twin Otter		 On Board
On Board		 Native Drum Circle in Fort Simpson
Native Drum Circle in Fort Simpson
Green Ponds
Green Ponds		 Lakes
Lakes		 Nahanni River
Nahanni River		 Virginia Falls. Height twice that of Niagara Falls
Virginia Falls. Height twice that of Niagara Falls		 Boardwalk Portage of 1.3 Km to the bottom of Virginia Falls
Boardwalk Portage of 1.3 Km to the bottom of Virginia Falls		 Virginia Falls
Virginia Falls
Pep talk with guides Ian and Marissa
Pep talk with guides Ian and Marissa		 Virginia Falls
Virginia Falls		 Down River below Falls
Down River below Falls		 Nahanni River in the Morning above Virginia Falls
Nahanni River in the Morning above Virginia Falls		 Portage around Virginia Falls
Portage around Virginia Falls		 Long Portage. Did it twice.
Long Portage. Did it twice.
Virginia Falls
Virginia Falls		 Hiking up to the Falls
Hiking up to the Falls		 Virginia Falls
Virginia Falls		 Rainbow at Falls
Rainbow at Falls		 Rainbow in the Mist
Rainbow in the Mist		 Mushroom Button. These mushroom shots all taken within 10 minutes.
Mushroom Button. These mushroom shots all taken within 10 minutes.
Mushroom small orange
Mushroom small orange		 Mushroom (Fat Pholiota)
Mushroom (Fat Pholiota)		 Mushroom Blob 2
Mushroom Blob 2		 Mushroom (Woodland Russula)
Mushroom (Woodland Russula)		 Mad Hatter Mushroom
Mad Hatter Mushroom		 Turtles
Turtles
Last Chance before Falls
Last Chance before Falls		 Very Wild
Very Wild		 At Play
At Play		 Lunch in Style
Lunch in Style		 Sorting out the Gear
Sorting out the Gear
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Pierre-Jean 04-Sep-2006 16:04
Explorator Jean POirel, was the first one to go down the Yahanni from the source in June 1964 with 3 companions,Bertrand Bordet, Claude Bernardin and Roger Rochat. They were parachuted at the beginning of the Yahanni with all equipments and were left on their own with no radio, nor help from the outside world. Compas were not useful. For several months they explored the region using inflatable canoes that needed constant repairs.
41 persons died attempting the exploit before them and they were the first to come back alive.

Jean Poirel made several books including "la Vallee des hommes sans tetes" and films.
He named a large cavern he discovered along the upper Nahanni after his daugther Valerie.

I am the 60 years old father inlaw of his Daughter Valerie, (and soon -along with Jean Poirel- grand-father of her son. .

Jean Poirel is now 75, I had the pleasure to meet him recently and we talked about his adventures. He mentionned his films (16mm) that were getting old and forgotten. Some have been destroyed. I proposed helping saving what was left and revive them in DVD disk for himself and his familly. This movie had no sound and I asked him to add his comments on tape, that I could easely add to the film with my computer. He does not know much about this new technology so he was happy I could do that !!! Your trip and pictures helped me to understand more about this mysterious river. He told me how glad he was to be able to open this great parc to the public. His first expedition took several month. canoes were lost with food and they had to eat herbs and roots to survive or an occasional skirel to split among the 4 of them. Paddles were broken many times and they had to create them on the spot. After the firrst expedition he came back many time and explored the region for 5 years in order to map the area in its entirety. climbing, exploring every cavern and mountain.

Here I am sitting in front of my computer and I envy you for doing such a wonderful trip.
Although it is not as dangerous and impredictable as it was the first time with absolutely no help from the outside world, it still neeeds lots of efforts and courage to do such a trip. I envy you!

Thank you for sharing your "modern" adventure with me, I shows me that after all, beside more safety, the adventure is still a wild and wonderful one !

Pierre-Jean
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